IF BLINDNESS COMES

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Resolution 2007
Regarding Access To Blood Glucose Meters

At the National Federation of the Blind annual convention, members recognized
the importance of advocating for accessible technology so that blind and visually
impaired diabetics would have the means to self-manage their diabetes. The following
resolution was passed, stating that the NFB supports and commends the work of
companies developing accessible technology for diabetes.

Whereas, diabetics need to measure the level of glucose in their blood accurately
in order to control their diabetes and to reduce the risk of diabetic complications;
and

Whereas, tens of thousands of diabetics need nonvisual access to blood glucose
meters because diabetes is the leading cause of blindness among adults of working
age in the United States, with thousands losing their vision each year; and

Whereas, the need for nonvisual access is even greater because many blind and
visually impaired senior citizens become diabetic and many diabetic senior citizens
lose vision, either temporarily or permanently, from causes other than diabetes;
and

Whereas, the ultimate solution to this impediment to independent self-care
is to create affordable, accessible meters by adding speech technology and accessibility
features to all new blood glucose meters developed for sale in the United States;
and

Whereas, diabetics with vision have access to a dizzying array of state-of-the-art
glucose testing technology with advanced features, such as shorter test times,
smaller blood sampling requirements, and portable size, and some products such
as the Prodigy line made by Diagnostic Devices—including the Basic and
the AutoCode—are even making use of voice technology to speak the blood
glucose level immediately following a test, but are nevertheless not truly accessible
to blind diabetics; and

Whereas, Roche Diagnostics, the leading provider of accessible diabetes testing
technology available to blind and visually impaired diabetics in the United
States for nearly a decade, recently took a disrespectful and cavalier approach
to the needs of their loyal blind customers by discontinuing their decade-old
VoiceMate system before introducing another accessible alternative; and

Whereas, in contrast, Diagnostic Devices, Inc, maker of the Prodigy line, took
a more positive approach by seeking guidance from blind diabetics in the National
Federation of the Blind in the development of an even more accessible meter
called the ProdigyVoice; and

Whereas, BBI Health Care, distributors of the SensoCard Plus, a talking meter
popular with blind diabetics in the United Kingdom, Australia and Europe, where
it has been available for years, has recently applied to the U.S. Food and Drug
Administration (FDA) for approval to market the SensoCard Plus in the United
States: Now, therefore

Be it resolved, by the National Federation of the Blind in Convention assembled
this sixth day of July, 2007, in the City of Atlanta, Georgia, that this organization
applaud and commend the developers of the ProdigyVoice for their exemplary commitment
to making affordable and accessible blood glucose meters, their willingness
to seek input of blind consumers and their success in integrating this advice
to create a glucose meter which blind people can use independently, and

Be it further resolved that this organization urge the U.S. Food and Drug Administration
to expedite the approval of the SensoCard Plus in addition to any other blood
glucose meters that enhance the access of blind users for marketing in the United
States consistent with best practices and safety standards; and

Be it further resolved that this organization establish Non-Visual accessibility
certification standards for diabetes technology to promote the development of
truly accessible products.